Chapter 5

Nineteen to one.

The split looked enormous.

But it was inevitable.

All nineteen were survivors who had avoided [Choices] for a long time.

What kind of person avoided them for so long?

There was only one answer.

Someone who was afraid to die.

So, why would someone like that choose B?

In racing [Choices], losers almost always died.

Only a rare few let them live.

And how could an ordinary person outrun a rabbit?

To everyone, option B meant certain death.

Naturally, no one else chose it.

Just then, a bald man jumped down from the roof of a Jeep.

He stood nearly six feet three and had a lean build.

He looked up at the glowing screen with a defiant glint in his eyes and said, "I choose A."

When he appeared, the crowd instinctively lowered their voices.

No one dared speak.

He was Zachary Grant, another of the team's Beyonders.

He was known for his brutality, and no one dared cross him.

Shane seemed to expect this.

He simply nodded to Zachary and said nothing.

Zachary possessed a special ability: he could regenerate his flesh.

So, losing his left hand was no great loss. He could grow it back if he ate enough.

The stronger a Beyonder was, the better their chances of receiving a valuable random reward.

Zachary would never pass up this [Choice].

His reason for waiting until last was simple.

He did not want to take one of the twenty places.

He wanted more people to enter the [Choice].

Shane was the team leader, and he was relatively "softhearted."

If Zachary were in charge, he would make everyone enter!

They would only lose a hand. It wouldn't kill them!

A hundred random vehicles in return were real assets!

Before long, a countdown appeared on the glowing screen.

10.

9.

8.

...

When it reached zero, everyone who made a choice vanished from the open space!

Several live feeds appeared above the crowd.

They showed Zachary, Leroy, and two men no one paid much attention to.

On one feed, dim lights illuminated a small, dark room.

Heavy chains bound Zachary to an iron chair. A thick steel table stood before him, with his left arm clamped to its surface. He couldn’t move his arm an inch.

Dried, dark red blood stained the metal tabletop. The room seemed built for executions.

From the darkness, a thin old man approached.

His hair was white, and he was so frail that a strong wind looked capable of knocking him over.

He carried a huge chainsaw.

He pulled its starter cord hard.

The chainsaw roared to life with a shrill, terrifying whine!

The old man walked toward Zachary, one slow step at a time.

It looked like a scene from a horror movie!

The survivors watching outside trembled with fear.

Was that old man going to cut Zachary to pieces?

But on the screen, Zachary looked as if he couldn't care less.

He slouched in the chair, glanced at the old man, spat, and said, "Hey, old man. Is that chainsaw sharp enough? I don't like pain."

Zachary said he was afraid of pain, but mockery filled his eyes.

The old man spoke slowly in a dry, rasping voice.

"Don't worry, my chainsaw... is plenty sharp..."

Soon, he stood before Zachary.

His cloudy eyes fixed on Zachary's left hand, bright with excitement, as though he were admiring a perfect work of art.

The next second.

The old man suddenly raised the chainsaw and brought it down on Zachary's left hand without hesitation.

Bzzzz—

The motor shrieked as the spinning teeth tore through flesh and bone.

In an instant, his left hand was severed.

Hot blood sprayed over both the old man and Zachary, but neither reacted much.

Zachary frowned for only a second.

Then he looked at the end of his left arm and grinned.

"Well, old man, you've got skill. That's a clean cut. Nice work!"

The old man chuckled and raised his cloudy eyes to Zachary.

"You won't need me to stop the bleeding with a hot iron, will you?"

Zachary froze.

The old man saw through his unusual ability.

Several seconds passed before he answered, "I... suppose I won't..."

The old man picked up Zachary's severed hand and turned away.

His voice drifted back.

"Don't be afraid. I only want the hand. Whether yours grows back is none of my concern..."

The feed ended.

Zachary cleared the challenge.

Even after he returned to the real world, Zachary remained stunned.

He did not notice the cold sweat that gathered on his forehead.

What if the old man decided his ability counted as cheating and used some special means to stop his hand from growing back?

Zachary's expression darkened.

He should have treated the [Choices] with more respect.

When he looked around, he saw that all the other survivors had returned.

They stood where they appeared, crying out in pain.

Losing a left hand was not as simple as they imagined.

The cutting hurt.

Stopping the bleeding hurt.

Even now that it was over, the pain remained.

Later, there would be phantom limb pain too.

How could they expect to get a vehicle without paying a heavy price?

The ends of their left arms were blackened and cleanly cut.

A hot iron had clearly been used to stop the bleeding.

It hurt, but they survived.

Just then, Zachary raised an eyebrow.

He noticed that Leroy, who chose B, was alive too!

Moreover, all the survivors were staring at Leroy and talking about him.

They even forgot about the people who lost their left hands!

Moments earlier, Leroy appeared on a lush green plain.

A gentle breeze blew beneath bright sunshine.

A track made of fresh grass stretched out before him.

Beside him sat a plump, round rabbit!

Its fur was gray, and its ears were unusually long.

It was clearly the Demon Spirit Rabbit!

Just then, a voice sounded overhead.

[The race between human and rabbit is about to begin. Read the rules carefully. Anyone who breaks them will die!]

[1. Do not kill another contestant. Violators will die.]

[2. Do not leave the track. Violators will die.]

[3. The loser dies.]

[The race begins in five seconds...]

5.

4.

Leroy's eyes lit up.

The rules said he could not kill the other contestant.

They said nothing about kidnapping it, right?

Perfectly reasonable!

He glanced at the Demon Spirit Rabbit beside him.

It was already poised to sprint.

Leroy lunged without hesitation, grabbed both its ears with one hand, and lifted it off the ground.